Roni Bhakta

Roni Bhakta

Solapur, Maharashtra, India·--:--IST

Lenny Ecosystem Lead at Internet Archive, Backend Engineer at EDRLab (Readium), & YC Startup School '26.

Lenny Ecosystem Lead & Contract Open Library Engineer at Internet Archive (GSoC '25 → contract → ecosystem lead). Co-created Lenny, which connects to Open Library so libraries can install their own instance, own their EPUBs on the internet, and share them over Open Library & its OPDS 2.0 feeds (powering reader.archive.org) without subscription-based commercial lending lock-in. Alongside onboarding libraries onto Lenny, I work closely with Maria Bustillos at BRIET as consultant.

Backend Engineer (contract) at EDRLab and Readium.org, building the global OPDS 2.0 Catalog Registry and the Readium Speech Server for Thorium Readers & other Open Source Reading Apps.

Selected for Y Combinator Startup School India '26 ($25K AI credits) and Stanford University AI & OSS research. Using my YC credits to explore different markets and test ideas from scratch, I solo-founded Espeya.com and created the open-source side project ZON Format — see all in Archive & Experiments →

11M+
Open Library & OPDS

Connected to Lenny & reader.archive.org via OPDS 2.0 feeds

800+
Lenny Library-in-a-Box

Self-hosted EPUBs libraries own & lend without subscriptions

$25K
YC Startup School '26

AI & cloud credits backing market experiments like Espeya.com

−50%
ZON Format (Side Project)

LLM token reduction vs. JSON across Python & TypeScript

01

Experience

European Digital Reading Lab (EDRLab & Readium)

Backend Engineer

June 2026 — PresentReadium.orgContractEngineering

Internet Archive (Open Library & ArchiveLabs)

Lenny Ecosystem Lead & Contract Open Library Engineer

November 2025 — PresentOpen LibraryArchiveLabsLennyEngineering

Google Summer of Code 2025

GSoC 2025 Fellow — Internet Archive / Open Library

June 2025 — September 2025FellowshipEngineering

BRIET & The Brick House Cooperative

Lead Engineer & Library Onboarding (with Maria Bustillos)

February 2026 — Presentbriet.appLenny AdoptionConsulting & Research

Stanford University

Research Participant (AI & OSS Development Study)

November 2024 — December 2025Consulting & Research

Open Library (Internet Archive & ArchiveLabs)

Open Library Engineer & Core Maintainer

November 2024 — PresentInternet ArchiveArchiveLabsOPDS 2.0Open Source

ArchiveLabs

Ecosystem Lead & Core Maintainer

2025 — PresentLennypyopds2Open Source

EDRLab & Readium Foundation

Core Maintainer (OPDS Catalog Registry & Readium Speech Server)

2026 — PresentReadium.orgThoriumOpen Source

Google Developer Groups on Campus

Chapter Founder & Organiser

September 2024 — June 2025Community

Microsoft Student Ambassador

Student Ambassador

January 2025 — PresentCommunity

E-Cell, IIT Bombay

E-Cell Campus Ambassador

July 2024 — December 2024Community

01Lenny

Open-source digital lending platform connected to Open Library that lets libraries and communities install their own instance, own and store their EPUBs on the internet, and share them over OPDS feeds without subscription lock-in.

PythonFastAPIPostgreSQLDockerOPDS

02EDRLab OPDS Catalog Registry

The global OPDS 2.0 library catalog registry built at EDRLab & Readium for Thorium Reader, helping readers worldwide discover and connect to public, academic, and open-access digital libraries.

PythonFastAPIPostgreSQLNext.jsOPDS 2.0

03Readium Speech Server

Open text-to-speech server built at EDRLab & Readium for Thorium Readers and other open-source reading apps, combining local open-source voice models and cloud speech providers to power read-aloud narration in Thorium Web.

PythonFastAPIText-to-SpeechReadium

04Open Library OPDS Service

The official OPDS 2.0 catalog service for Open Library at the Internet Archive, connecting millions of books directly to modern reading apps and reader.archive.org.

PythonFastAPIOpen LibraryOPDS 2.0

05Public Readium Service (PRS)

Internal service at the Internet Archive supporting Readium Manifest CLI and Thorium Web Reader integration to enable secure in-browser reading of borrowed ebooks across Open Library and Lenny.

PythonFastAPIReadiumOPDSDocker
03

Education

Y Combinator

Startup School India Attendee

2026 — 2026Selected from 25K applicants$25K YC AI Credits

A.G. Patil Institute of Technology

B.Tech, Computer Engineering (Data Structures, Distributed Systems, Full-Stack Web Development, Cloud Computing)

2022 — Expected July 2026

A.G. Patil Polytechnic Institute

Diploma, Computer Engineering (Published research paper on Analytics of Student Database - DOI: 10.15680/IJIRCCE.2022.1004113)

July 2019 — May 2022
04

Writing

05

Contact

Open to opportunities in full-stack, open infrastructure, or GenAI. DM on X or email me.

© 2026 Roni Bhakta. All rights reserved.